Entertainment

Chuck Hodes/FOX

Cookie's Speech To Lucious Was Empowering AF

by Anna Rose Iovine

With every passing season of Empire, fans seem to learn more and more about Cookie's past — and see more and more heartbreak. Prior to the fall finale, episodes featured flashbacks of Cookie's teenage years when she met Lucious. Not only that, but we saw that their relationship caused a riff between Cookie and her family. Since then, Cookie has sacrificed even more for Lucious. On Wednesday's premiere, she let loose on him — and on Empire's office — with a baseball bat. Cookie's speech to Lucious on Empire was empowering and a sign of what's to come from their relationship.

Unless you've never seen one second of Empire, you know Cookie and Lucious have a contentious relationship (actually, even if you haven't you probably know this too). Their on again/off again mentality makes our heads spin, but given all they've been through together, it makes sense. At the beginning of the episode, Cookie attempted to convince Lucious to step down as co-CEO of Empire... and when he refused, she brought his thought-to-be-dead mother, Leah, on stage for the world to see. Lucious also blames Cookie for Jamal's addiction and stint in rehab. Yikes.

Then there's also the issue with Angelo, a candidate for New York's mayor as well as Cookie's new love interest. Similar to how Cookie brought out Lucious's secret, Lucious brought out Angelo's: he committed manslaughter years ago, but was never convicted. Cookie and Lucious's push and pull throughout the episode came to a head in the final scene. Cookie had clearly had it, and wielded a baseball bat while speaking her truth to Lucious.

Chuck Hodes/FOX

Cookie started off slow, but viewers could all tell she was going to go in. She pointed to Lucious's first gold record, and reminded him that she worked on it just before going to prison. As if on cue, she smashed the record. It only escalated from there, and Cookie talked about how she would watch Lucious on TV while she was behind bars. Cookie seemed to be taking back her power from Lucious, and taking credit for Empire Records. She deserves the credit and wants to be the sole CEO. Not only was Cookie responsible for Empire's success, but she also had three sons and a miscarriage.

What did Lucious do in comparison? Not that Cookie would let him get a word in, but he probably wouldn't have had a good rebuttal anyway. Cookie refused to be erased from Empire's history. Lucious tried, but he should've known better than to mess with Cookie. It's unclear whether he will give her the keys to Empire, but her speech (and her bat) made him realize she's not playing around. I do know, though, that Cookie won't be backing down.